Wicked landed confidently at Minneapolis’ Orpheum Theatre on Thursday for a six-week run in its third Twin Cities go-round.

From the moment that Glinda, ruler of Oz, arrives by delicate bubble carriage to the finale when she leaves by same, “Wicked” sparkles like, well, fairy dust.

It’s gratifying that Joe Mantello’s flawless and lyrical production, with its seamless transitions, is still in such tiptop shape. It allows the show to reveal more of its depth and meaning, even if Stephen Schwartz’s score hasn’t gotten any more hummable from repeated exposure.

The power of “Wicked” — created by Schwartz and librettist Winnie Holzman from Gregory Maguire’s fanciful 1995 novel — rests on its portrait of two young women figuring out their relationship to each other and to men. Loyalty, friendship and love grow out of shallowness and seemingly unbridgeable differences.

“Wicked” also includes a secret connection between Elphaba and the Wizard, played with avuncular ease by former Guthrie and Chanhassen character actor Don Amendolia, who does a charming “Wonderful.”

Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel originated the roles of Glinda and Elphaba on Broadway, imprinting their respective characters with flighty cuteness and self-possessed intelligence. In this production, Daradich has the ditz down pat, inhabiting Glinda with a hair-tossing silliness but also with tremendous vocal agility and a wonderful sense of play.

Wicked is performing at Historic Orpheum Theatre mn in Minneapolis, MN till 9/19/2010. Buy your Wicked The Musical Minneapolis Tickets now!

The Apollo Victoria theatre will celebrate its 80th birthday later this year with a gala performance featuring West End stars past and present.

The special anniversary event will take place on 10 October, with all profit from the evening being donated to Cancer Research UK.

The Apollo Victoria’s gala performance will feature stars from its current show, the hit musical Wicked, alongside cast members from previous shows staged at the venue including Saturday Night Fever, Bombay Dreams and Billy Joel danc-ical Movin’ Out. The evening will also include a reunion of performers from the venue’s longest running show, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s roller-skating extravaganza Starlight Express.

The Apollo Victoria theatre originally opened in 1930, when it was known as the New Victoria theatre and was used as both a theatre and a cinema. The 1950s saw the venue remodelled to host ballet and music performances, while in the 1980s it was once again reinvented as musical house, hosting a Petula Clark-led production of The Sound Of Music and Fiddler On The Roof, starring Topol. Starlight Express opened at the venue in March 1984, playing for eight years before closing in January 2002.

The Oz-set story, which tells of how two magical girls grew into Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West, won the 2010 Laurence Olivier Audience Award for Most Popular Show as voted for by the users of Official London Theatre earlier this year.

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